Nursing in Northlake (At the Altar Book 9) Read online

  Heidi frowned at the older woman. “Now, don’t you start that! We just got back from the grocery store.”

  “But you wouldn’t let me race Bob Murphy, and he challenged me!”

  “Remember the pickles!”

  Slade walked up behind Heidi with his first load of groceries. “Is that like 'Remember the Alamo'?”

  “No, because that was the rally cry for vengeance. This is the rally cry for not acting like toddlers!”

  Miss Molly sank into her recliner and pushed her walker at Heidi, who immediately set it next to the front door where her friend preferred it. “You never let me have any fun. I could never move into that nursing home of yours, knowing you’d be watching my every move!”

  Heidi leaned down and kissed the older woman’s weathered cheek. “You know I’d take good care of you.” It was a perpetual argument for them. Heidi wished the older woman would at least move into their assisted living apartments, because then she knew she’d be watched over. Her daughter kept hiring incompetent idiots to help her. “There’s a nice little apartment on the first floor in the assisted living. I’d be happy to drive you over and show you around.”

  Miss Molly frowned. “Maybe.”

  Heidi was shocked by the answer. She’d never gotten her to even agree to a maybe. “What’s changed your mind?”

  The older woman’s eyes filled with tears. “Without you living upstairs, I don’t know what’s going to happen to me.”

  Slade came back in and found Heidi hovering over her friend. “I can’t promise to make it by every day like I used to, but if you were in the assisted living I could see you just about every day. And I would make sure to assign my very best people to you.”

  “Maybe we could go look at it on Monday.”

  Heidi’s mind raced, and she finally nodded. She’d find a way to make it work. Vicki would certainly understand. “I’ll come by and pick you up in the morning.”

  Miss Molly shook her head. “No, you’re too grumpy in the mornings. Come after lunch.”

  Heidi bit her lip, trying to hide the laughter. “You need to meet my husband, Miss Molly. You’re going to like him a lot.” Her eyes met Slade’s, and she knew he’d heard a lot of the conversation. “Come meet one of my favorite people in the whole world, Slade. This is Miss Molly.”

  Slade walked over and stood beside Heidi, one arm going around her as he offered his hand to shake. “I’ve heard so many good things about you!”

  “Well, I’m glad she’s not just talking about me running over her feet and that horrible pickle incident. You won the lottery when you married this one.”

  Slade looked over at Heidi, the smile lighting up his whole face. “I know I did.”

  Heidi stood on tiptoes and kissed him. “Isn’t he just the sweetest, Miss Molly?”

  “He is. And I never got a chance to kiss the groom. Or pinch his bottom. Get over here, you big hunk!”

  Heidi looked at Slade, laughing, wondering what he’d do. He leaned down and kissed Miss Molly’s cheek before turning to present his butt for her to pinch. When she did, he jumped a bit, saying, “Oh!” and the older woman giggled.

  Heidi smiled her thanks. “Did you get all the groceries?”

  He nodded. “I’m going to get back upstairs. How much longer will you be?”

  “I’m going to cook a nice lunch for Miss Molly, and then I’ll be ready.”

  “I’ll come back down when we’re done.”

  “Thank you!”

  After he’d gone, Heidi looked down at Miss Molly. “Now, what do you want me to make you for lunch?”

  “How about a tuna casserole? I’ve been hungry for one for days.”

  “Absolutely!” Heidi went into the kitchen and started boiling water. She could handle the extra heat for a few minutes for Miss Molly.

  Slade came down thirty minutes later, just as she was serving the food in a bowl and putting it on a TV tray. She placed a flower she’d purchased at the store in a vase, then added it to the tray to spruce up the meal. She knew how much the little things meant to Miss Molly.

  “Are you set? I do need to go finish this move with Slade, but I’ll come and get you Monday so you can see the assisted living apartment. Does that sound good?”

  Miss Molly nodded. “Well, it doesn’t really sound good, but I know I need the help, and that rotten daughter of mine isn’t going to be here for me.”

  “I know. But I can see you just about every day and take much better care of you there.” Heidi leaned down and kissed Miss Molly’s cheek. “I’ll see you Monday.”

  “You two have a good weekend.”

  Heidi turned at the door and waved, hating to leave her like that, but knowing she had to. She and Slade had brought separate cars in case he got called away. “Don’t you have any babies due this weekend?”

  “Actually, it’s weird. I’ve had babies due every week for months, and I have this three week stretch with no babies due. Now, because I said that, someone will deliver early.”

  Heidi grinned. “Well, let’s take my car, and we’ll go eat.”

  He held his hand out for her keys. “I’ll drive.”

  “My car. I get to drive!”

  He frowned. “No, I’ll drive.”

  “You don’t think I can drive, do you?”

  “It’s not that I don’t think you can drive…”

  “Then what is it?” Heidi frowned at him.

  “I don’t let anyone drive me. I don’t like giving up control.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “So I finally found the chink in my knight’s armor? He’s a control freak?”

  “I work for myself for a reason. I’m a benevolent dictator, but I’m definitely a dictator.”

  “But marriage is a partnership.”

  Slade nodded readily. “Of course it is! But I’m still driving.”

  Heidi glared at him, but handed him her car keys. “You aren’t always going to win, you know.”

  “I know. I’ll just savor every little victory.”

  They stopped for lunch, and he let her choose the place. An hour later, they were pulling into the driveway of the house, barely beating the movers. Heidi had to supervise this part of things because some things were going to storage, and some were being moved into the house.

  It was a long tiring day, but they finished. Her call phone rang at three, and she had to excuse herself. “This is Heidi.”

  “Heidi, this is Laura. My daughter has a stomach bug, and I’m not going to make it in tonight.”

  “I hope she feels better. Thanks for letting me know.” Heidi pulled her list of PRN CNAs toward her, looking down for the name of the person she knew was most likely to be willing. Technically, she was supposed to start at the top, but she believed in rewarding people who were willing to go in whenever called.

  She called Miranda first. “Miranda, it’s Heidi. We have someone out tonight, and I was hoping you could cover for her?”

  “Absolutely! With Jack being unemployed, I need all the hours I can get, and he can watch the kids!”

  “Thank you! Shift starts at four. You’re working for Laura.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “I’ll let Mary know. She’s in charge tonight.” Heidi said, ending the call and calling Mary. “Laura’s out sick, but Miranda is taking her place.”

  “Oh, good. Miranda’s a hard worker. I’ll take her any time someone is out.”

  “I like working with her too, which is why she’s always the first one I call.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “No problem.” Heidi ended the call and hurried back to help direct the movers.

  Slade looked over at her. “Do you want me to go and supervise while they put everything in storage?”

  Heidi shook her head. “No, they’ll put whatever’s left in there, and I gave them the combination. I’m not worried about it.” She stifled a yawn. “I’m just glad this is almost over and we’ll have a whole day off tomorrow.”
Of course, she’d spend half the day unpacking.

  “What do you want to do with it?”

  She made a face. “Other than unpacking boxes? I don’t know. Maybe we could just stay home and grill out for lunch. Swim.”

  “I’d like that. Time with my wife is always the answer. Did you get your personnel problems taken care of?”

  She nodded. “One of my CNAs has a kid with a stomach bug. There’s one who is always willing to fill in, though, so it was two quick phone calls and done.”

  “Sounds like that was easy.”

  “This time.” She grinned at him. “What do we want to do for dinner tonight? I don’t want to get out, but I don’t want to heat up the house either.”

  He shrugged. “Why don’t I make some dogs on the grill? We can have dogs and chips. Not the healthiest meal in the world, but it won’t heat up the house, and we don’t have to go anywhere. We can even cook in our bathing suits.”

  “Sounds good to me!”

  *****

  The rest of the weekend passed uneventfully, and Heidi couldn’t believe how easily she was settling into marriage...with a doctor, of all people! She watched Slade constantly, expecting him to turn into a domineering jerk, but so far, it just wasn’t happening.

  On Monday morning, she went to work as usual, keeping in mind that she’d promised to fetch Miss Molly after lunch.

  “How’s married life?” Vicki asked from the door to Heidi’s office.

  Heidi looked up with a grin. “I never thought being married to a doctor could make me happy, but I was wrong.”

  Vicki smiled at that. “I’m really glad.”

  “I need a long lunch today.” Heidi quickly explained about Miss Molly. “I told her I’d pick her up after lunch. So what I thought I’d do, is go get her, drive her up here to see the assisted living area, then take her back. I can grab lunch on the way.”

  “You need something healthier than tacos on occasion, Heidi.”

  “I had burgers and potato salad yesterday.”

  Vicki shook her head. “You need to slow down sometimes.”

  “Right. Just like you do?”

  “I feed my family a real meal most nights.”

  “I ate a steak on Friday!”

  “All right. I’m done talking. Anything happen over the weekend I need to know about?”

  Heidi shook her head. “Laura called in sick kid. Miranda covered for her.”

  “God bless Miranda,” Vicki responded. “She makes it so easy to cover those CNA shifts.”

  “I know. It’s going to be tough when her husband finds a job.”

  “Okay, I’m going to let you get back to your paperwork.”

  Heidi nodded, already looking down at the form in front of her. She hated paperwork almost as much as she hated mornings.

  She was still at it an hour later when she saw something that had her jumping up and running for the door. Mrs. Nelson, who had been a resident since before Heidi started working there six years before, was wandering down the hall. It wouldn’t be unusual, except that Heidi had only seen Mrs. Nelson in her bed or a wheelchair. She’d assumed the woman couldn’t walk.

  She walked next door to Vicki’s office. “Why was Mrs. Nelson just wandering down the hall?”

  Vicki looked up from her computer, rubbing the back of her neck absently. “Mrs. Nelson? Oh, she can walk. She just kept throwing herself on the floor not wanting to walk, so we got her a wheelchair. She walks when she feels like it, but that’s the only time.”

  Heidi blinked a few times. “Why didn’t I know this?”

  “Because she doesn’t usually feel like it.” Vicki shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with her legs or her balance. She tends to wander around a lot in the middle of the night.”

  “Should we add working with her on walking to her care plan?”

  “Absolutely not! She throws herself on the floor and has a fit worthy of any toddler. Nope. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing. If she wants to walk, she can. If she doesn’t, we’ll let her ride around in her wheelchair.”

  Heidi nodded. She understood completely. Once a patient was on the floor, it was hard to get them up, and Mrs. Nelson was one of the most stubborn women she knew! “All right. She really freaked me out for a minute there.”

  “You might want to follow her. She gets tired of walking and sits down wherever she is, and then she needs a wheelchair to get back to where she’s supposed to be. She was dressed, I hope?”

  Heidi nodded. “Yeah, she was dressed. I have no idea where she was going, but I’ll try to find her.”

  Five minutes later, she was glad she’d taken Vicki’s advice. Mrs. Nelson was sitting on the floor in the lobby, complaining about someone pushing her out of her wheelchair loudly to anyone who would listen. Thankfully, no one was listening. “I’ll get your wheelchair for you, Mrs. Nelson.” She was on the floor beside a comfortable chair. “Let me help you into a chair while I go get one.”

  Mrs. Nelson nodded, taking Heidi’s hand to be helped up. She sat in the chair and folded her hands on her lap, waiting for her chair. Instead of going to get one herself, Heidi had the receptionist page a CNA with a wheelchair for Mrs. Nelson.

  Jenni was there a minute later, pushing a wheelchair. “I wondered where you’d wandered off to, Mrs. Nelson. You know you’re not supposed to just walk off.”

  “You pushed me out of my wheelchair and left me,” Mrs. Nelson argued belligerently.

  “Of course.” Jenni helped her into the chair and pushed her back down the hall. “It’s almost time for lunch. Do you want to sit with your friends today?”

  The last thing Heidi heard as they disappeared around the corner was, “You know I don’t have any friends. Why do you always make up stories?”

  Heidi shook her head. It was going to be a long day!

  Chapter Eight

  Miss Molly was waiting for her when Heidi drove up. “Are we going to use a wheelchair when we get there, or do you think you can handle it with your walker?”

  “My knees are feeling young today. I can do it!”

  Heidi smiled at that. “Good! If you change your mind, I can arrange for a chair, but it’s good for you to walk when you can.”

  Once Miss Molly was settled in the car, Heidi headed toward the nursing home. “Do you have any questions before we get there?”

  “Yes, are there other people who I can do things with there?”

  “Absolutely! There are always people down in the lobby putting puzzles together and playing cards. There’s a big television and you’d have people to watch your stories with. I think you’ll really like it.”

  “But I’ll have my own space?”

  “Yes, you will. Your apartment will be a one-bedroom with a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. We’ll set up a schedule for people to check on you. You don’t have to be around people unless you want to, but if you want to, you can. It’s that simple. You’ll have a whole community of friends in no time.”

  Miss Molly sighed. “I hoped it would never come to this.”

  “I know you did, and if I could have stayed living in my little apartment above you forever, we’d have been able to hold off a lot longer. But you need more help than I can give when I’m not living that close to you. Here, you’ll always have help if you need it. There will be a number you can call if you fall or if you just need someone to run to the store for a gallon of milk.” Heidi pulled into the parking lot and hurried around the car, handing Miss Molly her walker. “I don’t want you to be challenging the other residents to races, though. Do you understand me?”

  Miss Molly just grinned. “I won’t have to if they can keep me entertained.”

  “Good golly, Miss Molly! You need to learn to entertain yourself!”

  Miss Molly just giggled as they walked the few steps to the lobby. Heidi had already arranged for the tour, so she had Miss Molly sit and wait while she parked in an appropriate space. She was back beside her friend two minutes later, and s
he saw that Miss Molly had already struck up a conversation with Opal, one of Heidi’s favorite residents.

  “Hello, Miss Opal. I see you’ve met my friend, Miss Molly.”

  “I didn’t know her name, but yes, we met. She plays spades, so she needs to move in here, because I need a good spades partner. Jasper tries, but the old goat can barely see the cards, and I need someone as good as I am.”

  “Of course you do, Miss Opal. Do you want to show Miss Molly your apartment? We’re going to see an empty one, but she might like to see how nice they look when they’re decorated like yours is.” Heidi didn’t really need Miss Molly to see Opal’s apartment, but she knew that if the two became friends, it would be easier for Miss Molly to transition into the facility.

  Miss Opal nodded. “I’d love to show her.” She slowly got to her feet, reaching for her cane. “Come on, Molly.”

  Miss Molly leaned on the arm of the chair and got to her feet, taking the walker Heidi offered her. She looked happier than Heidi had seen her in a long time, so Heidi knew this was where she needed to be.

  Heidi followed the two ladies, listening to Miss Opal tell Miss Molly all about the place and how much she loved living there. “You’d be surprised at some of the good looking men we have here. Don’t let the silver hair, or lack thereof, throw you off. Some of them still have a lot of riding left in them.”

  Heidi wanted to block her ears. She didn’t need to know about what went on when no one was watching.

  Miss Molly laughed. “I’m sure none of them can hold a candle to the young doctor Heidi’s currently riding. Did you know she got married last weekend?”

  “Miss Molly!” Heidi said, shocked at the older woman’s earthy speech.

  “Every generation thinks they invented sex. I could tell you a thing or two about sex, Heidi!” Miss Opal stopped at her door and unlocked it. “I was married twice, you know, and I had lots of men in between. I was considered pretty wild in my day.”

  “I don’t need to know that, Miss Opal!”

  “Sure you do!” Miss Opal led the way into her apartment, showing Miss Molly every little nook and cranny while Heidi checked the text message she’d felt vibrate in her pocket.